My father’s welcome home part was massive. My mother invited so many people; family, friends, even friends of family! The food was so good, and there was so much, I wonder how my mum cooked it all in 9 to 5. I was so happy to see my dad back. I instantly jumped on him and hugged him, he span me around but groaned when he set me down. “You’re getting big…and heavy.” He joked. “You’ve only been gone for a year or so dad. I haven’t changed that much.” I poked my tongue out at him and laughed. Now that my dad was back, my mum could go back to being her happy, childish self. My dad really brought the teenager out of my mum. She loved to act giggle and lovey around my dad. It was kind of weird seeing my parents act like this. But I guess it’s better than parents being split up.

The party ended late and the house was a mess. My family didn’t bother cleaning the house that night because we were so tired. We cleaned up Monday night.

Tuesday rolled along.

So did Wednesday.

Thursday passed in a blur.

And Friday crawled over.

A week had passed and I hadn’t heard from Leo at all. No texts. No calls. Nothing. I couldn’t text him first though. My fingers would stiffen and my mind would go blank. I was too scared to text him first. What was I going to say? After our attempted and failed kiss, I’m too embarrassed to say anything. How many times must my family interfere? Am I not meant to be with Leo?

On Sunday afternoon, I lied on my bed on my back and stared at my phone which I held in the sky. Was I hoping a text would pop up from Leo? Yes. I prayed to the phone. “Please. Leo text me first…” I muttered repeatedly. Unannounced, my ringtone called out and I got so shocked that my phone slipped out of y fingers and landed on my nose. “Owwww.” I groaned. It was Leo who was calling me. I swallowed and answered.
“Hey Leo.” I said with a nervous laugh. “What’s up?”
“Hello Melinda. Are you free today?” he asked.
His voice made my heart beat fast, too fast.
“Yes I’m free today.” I said without thinking. I just wanted to spend time with Leo.
“OK, great. Do you want to go and watch a movie with me?”
“Yes sure!” I sounded a bit too excited. “What movie?”
“You have a choice of horror, comedy or romance.” He said.
“Are you OK with horror?” I asked. “I like horror movies.” I giggled.
“Sure. Whatever you want.”
“OK. What time are is the movie?”
“Later. Around 7? It’s a moonlight cinema.” He said excitedly.
“Wow! Can’t wait.” I smiled. Maybe I should have gone with romance.

We arrived early to get a nice spot. There were beanbags supplied for us so we could sit on. To my surprise, although we cane thirty minutes early, there were already people there. We grabbed two beanbags and sat down. We ordered a big bucket of popcorn and got ready for this horror movie. People continued to arrive. I never realized how popular moonlight cinemas were. I was grateful that we came a bit early. Someone said my name, but it wasn’t Leo. That voice was bone-chillingly familiar. I turned my head to where the voice was coming from. Exo was sitting behind me. “So it is Melinda!” Baekhyun said happily. “HI MELINDA!” they shouted at me. “Hey guys.” I said with a smile. Leo also turned around.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.
“Duh. We’re watching a movie.” Yixing laughed.
“Oh. Right. Why are you watching a horror movie? Tao is still a cry baby.” I joked.
“They forced me!” he whined.
“No we didn’t! You just didn’t want to be left out.” Kyungsoo sighed.
They broke out into a playful argument and they all talked over each other. But I noticed that Sehun was quiet, and he didn’t even try to make eye contact with me. My heart sank a little. Did he not want to be involved with me anymore? Why did I feel sad that he didn’t want to talk to me like all the other Exo members? The Exo members moved the bean bags closer to me, they snuggled really close. “It’s been so long since we last saw you!” Yixing said cheerfully. He sat close to me and held on to my arm. Sehun threw his bean bag between Leo and I and sat down. “Hello Melinda.” He smiled charmingly. I felt my heart twinge. I remember when that smile was mine. The Exo members constantly talked to me until the movie started, and I couldn’t help but feel that I was isolating and ignoring Leo. The screen lit up and the movie started. The audience cheered. I felt someone squirm in between Yixing and I. “Luhan. What are you doing?” Yixing asked quietly. “We never settled our score.” Luhan whispered in my ear. “What score?” I asked. “Our horror movie bet.” He stuck his tongue out. “I’m winning this time.” He chuckled. “We’ll see about that.” I said.


Tao cried during the movie. Typical Tao. He said there was too much blood and it scared him. Yet again, Luhan and I jumped at the exact same times. The score was still tied. “We have to get together again to settle the score!” Luhan laughed.
“Only if the winner gets free food for a month.” I joked.
“Done!” Luhan agreed.
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I want to eat your handmade food.” He smiled cutely.
“No, I’ll be eating you’re handmade food. For sure.” I replied.
Exo got up and stretched. “Nice seeing you today, Melinda.” They all said to me. I hugged each and every one of them. My hug with Sehun was a bit awkward though. It felt just like when we were dating, how he held me so gently and warmly. When I pulled away, I felt sad and I thought Sehun felt sad too. Instantly, Leo pulled me aside. “Melinda.” He said firmly.
“Yes? What’s wrong Leo?”
He nervously looked at me and put his hand in his pant’s pocket. He took out a necklace.



He hands it over to me. “I tried to give this to you last week…” he mumbled.
I blushed. “Me…?” I stuttered. I was speechless. It was beautiful.
“Melinda, will you be my – “ Leo started. But someone called my name. I quickly turned my head as a habitual reaction to my name. I see Baekhyun waving over at me, signaling me to come over with Exo.
“Just wait!” I called over to him. “Sorry, what were you about to say?” I asked Leo.
He quickly shook his head while looking on the ground. “Nothing.” He muttered. Baekhyun slung his arm around my shoulder. “Come on Melinda! We haven’t seen you in so long, let’s go to the arcade together!” he said. Yixing stood on my other side and slung his arm around me too. “No! Let’s go eat cake!” he suggested happily. I looked at Leo for approval, but his eyes were icy and sharp. It made chills run down my spine. “Leo… Do you want to come?” I asked shakily. He gave a straight and blunt no. He said bye and went off. He didn’t even kiss me on the forehead. Nothing. I desperately clutched the necklace in my hand, as if it was Leo and I didn’t want to lose him. “Then it’s settled.” Joonmyun smiled. “First arcade, then cake for dessert!” Exo cheered and dragged me along with them.

Notes